Citizens who have one or more chronic health conditions (among list of 12 conditions) who reported taking 6 or more different prescription medications on a regular basis

Table

Unit %

Year 2023 Year 2020 Year 2017 Year 2014 Year 2011
Province
New Brunswick
17.4
16.4 - 18.5
17.6
16.8 - 18.4
16.4
15.8 - 17.0
15.2
14.6 - 15.8
12.4
11.9 - 13.0
Health zones
Zone 1 - Moncton and South-East Area
15.3
13.3 - 17.2
14.8
13.4 - 16.3
15.4
14.2 - 16.5
13.9
12.7 - 15.1
11.7
10.6 - 12.8
Zone 2 - Fundy Shore and Saint John Area
18.8
16.2 - 21.3
17.0
15.3 - 18.7
16.2
14.9 - 17.5
12.4
11.3 - 13.5
11.3
10.2 - 12.4
Zone 3 - Fredericton and River Valley Area
15.0
12.8 - 17.1
16.8
15.3 - 18.2
15.4
14.1 - 16.7
15.0
13.8 - 16.2
13.1
11.9 - 14.3
Zone 4 - Madawaska and North-West Area
20.9
16.5 - 25.3
22.7
19.7 - 25.7
19.3
17.1 - 21.6
18.7
16.1 - 21.2
16.1
14.0 - 18.3
Zone 5 - Restigouche Area
25.7
21.2 - 30.2
24.6
20.9 - 28.3
22.1
18.9 - 25.3
24.0
19.9 - 28.1
16.2
13.4 - 19.0
Zone 6 - Bathurst and Acadian Peninsula Area
21.1
17.2 - 25.0
21.4
19.0 - 23.7
19.6
17.5 - 21.7
19.3
16.9 - 21.6
12.6
11.0 - 14.2
Zone 7 - Miramichi Area
18.4
14.4 - 22.4
17.8
14.3 - 21.3
13.4
11.0 - 15.8
15.8
12.6 - 18.9
10.7
8.8 - 12.5
Communities
Bathurst, Beresford, Petit-Rocher Area
n/a
21.5
17.2 - 25.8
17.6
14.5 - 20.7
17.1
13.4 - 20.8
11.7
9.1 - 14.2
Bouctouche, Richibucto, Saint-Antoine Area
n/a
15.2
12.0 - 18.4
14.6
11.5 - 17.7
15.0
11.7 - 18.2
14.0
10.9 - 17.0
Campbellton, Atholville, Tide Head Area
n/a
27.4
21.8 - 33.0
28.8
24.0 - 33.6
22.1
16.7 - 27.6
17.1
12.6 - 21.6
Caraquet, Paquetville, Bertrand Area
n/a
17.3
12.6 - 22.0
17.0
12.4 - 21.6
20.3
15.0 - 25.6
11.3
7.9 - 14.7
Dalhousie, Balmoral, Belledune Area
n/a
21.8
16.9 - 26.6
16.1
12.0 - 20.3
25.7
19.6 - 31.7
15.5
11.9 - 19.0
Dieppe and Memramcook
n/a
13.1
9.5 - 16.7
15.1
12.0 - 18.3
9.9
6.3 - 13.5
7.6
4.1 - 11.1
Douglas, Saint Marys, Doaktown Area
n/a
16.2
11.6 - 20.8
16.3
12.1 - 20.4
12.5
8.6 - 16.4
12.5
9.0 - 16.1
Edmundston, Rivière-Verte, Lac Baker Area
n/a
22.3
18.0 - 26.6
19.5
16.4 - 22.6
18.8
15.6 - 22.0
17.4
14.3 - 20.5
Florenceville-Bristol, Woodstock, Wakefield Area
n/a
18.1
14.2 - 22.0
15.2
11.7 - 18.8
17.4
14.7 - 20.2
12.5
9.8 - 15.1
Fredericton
n/a
14.5
11.4 - 17.6
12.9
10.3 - 15.5
15.3
12.4 - 18.3
15.9
12.7 - 19.0
Grand Falls, Saint-Léonard, Drummond Area
n/a
20.8
16.1 - 25.5
18.9
15.0 - 22.9
18.3
13.7 - 22.8
17.0
12.9 - 21.0
Hillsborough, Riverside-Albert, Alma Area
n/a
18.9
11.9 - 26.0
12.8
7.5 - 18.1
19.8
13.6 - 26.1
11.6
7.0 - 16.3
Kedgwick, Saint-Quentin and Grimmer
n/a
31.2
22.5 - 40.0
20.0
13.3 - 26.6
19.0
9.4 - 28.6
7.6
3.8 - 11.3
Minto, Chipman, Cambridge-Narrows Area
n/a
21.2
15.4 - 27.1
23.3
18.3 - 28.3
19.6
15.6 - 23.6
13.0
9.3 - 16.7
Miramichi, Rogersville, Blackville Area
n/a
18.0
14.0 - 22.0
13.6
10.9 - 16.3
15.9
12.4 - 19.4
10.5
8.5 - 12.6
Moncton
n/a
13.6
10.5 - 16.8
15.7
13.4 - 18.0
14.9
12.6 - 17.2
12.7
10.6 - 14.9
Nackawic, McAdam, Canterbury Area
n/a
15.4
10.9 - 19.9
17.7
13.6 - 21.9
14.3
11.0 - 17.7
10.2
6.9 - 13.5
Neguac, Alnwick, Esgenoopetitj Area
n/a
16.5
9.5 - 23.5
12.1
7.0 - 17.3
15.1
7.7 - 22.5
11.4
7.2 - 15.6
New Maryland, Kingsclear, Lincoln Area
n/a
13.9
10.3 - 17.5
10.0
7.0 - 13.0
12.0
8.9 - 15.2
10.4
7.5 - 13.4
Oromocto, Gagetown, Fredericton Junction Area
n/a
17.9
13.8 - 22.0
21.6
17.6 - 25.7
13.8
10.6 - 16.9
11.6
8.2 - 15.1
Perth-Andover, Plaster Rock, Tobique Area
n/a
25.6
19.5 - 31.8
19.9
15.0 - 24.7
15.8
11.6 - 20.1
18.3
13.5 - 23.0
Quispamsis, Rothesay, Hampton Area
n/a
13.4
9.9 - 16.9
14.1
11.3 - 16.8
9.7
7.3 - 12.1
9.2
6.9 - 11.4
Riverview and Coverdale
n/a
16.3
12.4 - 20.1
12.2
9.4 - 15.0
12.4
9.1 - 15.7
10.9
7.6 - 14.1
Sackville, Dorchester, Port Elgin Area
n/a
15.5
10.9 - 20.1
18.8
14.8 - 22.9
18.8
14.0 - 23.7
10.6
6.6 - 14.5
Saint John, Simonds and Musquash
n/a
18.2
14.8 - 21.7
17.5
15.0 - 20.0
12.3
10.5 - 14.1
11.9
10.2 - 13.7
Salisbury and Petitcodiac
n/a
21.7
15.0 - 28.5
11.8
6.5 - 17.1
16.2
11.3 - 21.1
14.9
9.8 - 19.9
Shediac, Beaubassin East and Cap-Pelé
n/a
15.6
11.0 - 20.3
17.6
14.4 - 20.7
11.9
9.4 - 14.4
10.3
7.8 - 12.7
Shippagan, Lamèque, Inkerman Area
n/a
23.6
18.1 - 29.1
23.1
17.9 - 28.3
23.7
17.8 - 29.5
11.6
8.4 - 14.9
St. George, Grand Manan, Blacks Harbour Area
n/a
16.3
11.8 - 20.8
14.7
10.8 - 18.7
18.7
15.0 - 22.4
12.9
9.8 - 16.0
St. Stephen, Saint Andrews, Campobello Island Area
n/a
19.7
15.2 - 24.1
17.2
13.0 - 21.4
14.7
11.0 - 18.4
10.5
7.1 - 14.0
Sussex, Norton, Sussex Corner Area
n/a
16.4
12.3 - 20.5
15.2
12.1 - 18.3
12.8
10.0 - 15.7
11.8
8.9 - 14.7
Tracadie and Saint-Isidore
n/a
22.7
18.0 - 27.3
22.6
17.9 - 27.2
18.9
13.9 - 24.0
17.3
13.3 - 21.3
Age
18-64
12.5
11.2 - 13.7
12.4
11.5 - 13.4
12.0
11.3 - 12.7
11.8
11.1 - 12.5
8.9
8.4 - 9.5
65 and over
26.4
24.5 - 28.4
26.6
25.3 - 27.9
25.2
24.1 - 26.4
24.3
23.2 - 25.5
22.7
21.4 - 23.9
Gender
Female
16.1
14.8 - 17.4
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Male
19.1
17.3 - 20.9
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
2SLGBTQIA+ status
2SLGBTQIA+
14.6
9.8 - 19.4
16.8
12.7 - 20.9
n/a
n/a
n/a
Language
Most comfortable in English
17.4
16.1 - 18.7
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Most comfortable in French
18.8
16.4 - 21.3
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Comfortable in both English and French
15.0
11.6 - 18.4
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Indigenous identity
Indigenous
19.7
13.3 - 26.1
19.9
14.8 - 24.9
23.2
19.6 - 26.8
19.0
14.9 - 23.0
13.5
10.0 - 17.0
Immigrant
Immigrants
9.0
5.4 - 12.6
10.9
8.1 - 13.7
14.1
11.1 - 17.1
n/a
n/a
Education level
High school or less
22.3
20.1 - 24.5
21.0
19.7 - 22.2
21.0
19.9 - 22.0
19.1
18.1 - 20.1
16.1
15.2 - 16.9
Postsecondary
15.1
13.9 - 16.4
14.9
13.9 - 15.8
12.7
11.9 - 13.4
12.3
11.6 - 13.1
9.2
8.6 - 9.9
Disability or special need
Disability or special need
37.0
32.6 - 41.3
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Household income
Less than $30,000
28.2
25.1 - 31.3
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
$30,000 to less than $60,000
19.3
17.1 - 21.4
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
$60,000 or more
12.3
10.9 - 13.6
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Racialized groups
Racialized groups
13.2
8.7 - 17.7
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a = Not applicable / not available
S = Data suppressed due to confidentiality requirements and/or small sample size

About

This indicator is the percentage of citizens who have one or more chronic health conditions (among list of 12 conditions) who reported taking 6 or more different prescription medications on a regular basis.

Source

New Brunswick Health Council, Primary Health Survey and Primary Care Survey

Calculations

This indicator is based on respondents who have one (1) or more of the following chronic health conditions: arthritis, asthma, chronic pain, Emphysema or COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), cancer, diabetes, depression, A mood disorder other than depression, such as bipolar disorder, mania, manic depression, or dysthymia, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure or hypertension or gastric reflux (GERD). This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of respondents who said they take "6 or more prescribed medications" by the "total number of respondents who entered a valid response" to the question: How many different prescription medications are you taking on a regular or ongoing basis?

Notes

The 2020 edition of the Primary Health Survey (PHS) was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic did not influence the survey’s response rate, NBHC had to assess the impact of surveying during the pandemic. Accordingly, advanced statistical analyses were performed to allow for comparison between the results obtained in 2020 and those obtained in previous PHS cycles. Despite these analyses, users are advised to use the PHS 2020 data with caution, especially when creating estimates for small sub-populations or when comparing it to other PHS editions.

Unit

%

Interpretation

Lower is better

NBHC code

PH_MED01_2

Charts

Maps